Batting

AMERICUS, GA – Francis Marion University dropped both ends of a Peach Belt Conference baseball doubleheader on Saturday (April 20), falling 8-5 and then 4-2
at Georgia Southwestern State University.

The Patriots (24-19, 14-14) and Hurricanes (19-27, 12-14) conclude their three-game set on Sunday afternoon (April 21) at 1 p.m.

FMU junior first baseman Nick Pappas reached base all five times he came to the plate in the opener, including a team-high three hits. Senior center fielder Gage Taylor, senior shortstop CJ Mackinson, and freshman left fielder Will Hardee amassed two hits apiece. The quartet combined to register all nine of Francis Marion's game-one hits.

Georgia Southwestern freshman shortstop Matthew Mamatas and senior first baseman Bradley Hough collected three knocks apiece in the opener, while senior third baseman Jason Baita went 2-for-5 with a homer, a triple, three RBIs, and a pair of runs scored.

Francis Marion struck first in game one, as Pappas brought in Hardee with a two-out double in the top of the first. GSW answered with a pair in the bottom half to take an advantage it would not relinquish.

The Hurricanes extended their lead to 8-1 with one in the second and five in the third.

The score remained the same until the seventh, when the Patriots loaded the bases with no outs. After a strikeout, Hardee drove in a run with a single. Freshman right fielder Brett Kemp knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly, and Taylor then plated a pair with a two-out double. Back-to-back free passes reloaded the bases and put the tying runs aboard for FMU, but a strikeout quelled the uprising and kept GSW on top 8-5.

Francis Marion once again loaded the bases with one out in the ninth on a Hardee double and walks to Taylor and Pappas. However, GSW junior right-hander A.J. Hayes retired the next two Patriots to end the game and collect his third save of the season.

Junior righty Tucker Smith (8-2) snagged the game-one win for the Hurricanes, yielding four runs, one of which was earned, in five innings.

Senior right-hander Evan Flynn (5-2) was tagged with the opening-game loss for Francis Marion after allowing five runs in two innings of work.

In the second contest, Georgia Southwestern snatched an early 2-0 lead on a two-run single by junior catcher Jacob Harrell. Freshman center fielder Hunter Foster brought in the Hurricanes' other two tallies on a seventh-inning double.

FMU's offense was held to just two hits through the first six innings, both collected by Taylor. The Patriots registered back-to-back two-out knocks in the seventh, but were turned away.

Francis Marion broke through in the eighth, as senior catcher Alex Griffith delivered a two-out run with a single.

In the ninth, the first three Patriots reached on a Kemp double, a GSW error, and a Hardee RBI double. Hardee's two-bagger put the tying runs in scoring position with no outs. Hurricanes' sophomore right-hander Harrison Timberlake retired the next two FMU batters, then induced a deep fly ball to center field off the bat of Pappas which was tracked down by Foster right in front of the wall to end the game.

After picking up the save in the opener, Hayes (3-2) blanked the Patriots on two hits through six innings to pick up the game-two victory. He walked seven and struck out a pair. The junior is the son of former FMU men's basketball player Tony Hayes.

Junior Josh Bobrowski (4-6) was saddled with the loss after surrendering four runs in 6.1 innings. The lefty struck out nine.

Hardee and Taylor led FMU with two hits apiece in the second contest, while Pappas reached three more times (one hit and two walks). Pappas reached base in eight of his 10 plate appearances for the day.